Friday, July 20, 2012

Advice

In life, we get a lot of advice. Especially as an intern. Some of it’s wanted, and often, some of it’s not. For the first few days that we were in New York, all of the ASME interns attended orientation. During our three days of “lessons” we had some of the biggest names in the business coming by to give us advice on how to be good interns, how to get jobs in the magazine business and what types of things to do in New York. Inevitably, when you discuss what to do in New York, you also must discuss what NOT to do in New York. I’d like to tell you all a little story about the day I found out that advice, even from the most knowledgeable and trustworthy sources, can be wrong. Just for a little background information, so you all don’t think I’m completely crazy, my second major, other than journalism, is art history. I decided before coming to New York that I would like to write my final paper before graduation on some new art that I experienced while in New York for the summer. So, when I found out that a friend-of-a-friend was dating a local artist, I jumped on a chance to go visit his studio. They told me what trains to take to meet them in “Brooklyn” and we set the date. After getting off the subway and starting to walk to the artist’s house, I realized, this was not the “Brooklyn” that I had been to before. Little did I know, I had just wandered into the heart of Bushwick, one of the neighborhoods at the top of the “do not visit” list of New York. I quickly found that this advice was wrong. Bushwick is certainly not a place that I would go alone at night, but during the day, as long as you’re careful and aware of your surroundings, you should be fine. And, your trip will be completely worth it because of the amazing graffiti art that can be found around each and every street corner. I’ve included some photos so you all can get an idea for how beautiful the art is that is being created by this new and emerging community.